1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to wireless local area networks. In particular the invention relates to a local area wireless network with variable data transmission rates, including a plurality of mobile units roaming among access points operating at possibly different data rates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless local area networks (LANs) are used in business applications such as inventory, rice verification mark-down, portable point of sale, order entry, shipping, receiving and package racking. Wireless local area networks use infrared or radio frequency communications channels to communicate between portable or mobile computer units and stationary access points or base stations. These access points are in turn connected by a wired or wireless communication channel to a network infrastructure which connects groups of access points together to form a local area network, including, optionally, one or more host computer systems.
Wireless infrared and radio frequency (RF) protocols are known which support the logical interconnection of portable roaming terminals having a variety of types of communication capabilities to host computers. The logical interconnections are based upon an infrastructure in which at least some each of the remote terminals are capable of communicating with at least two of the access points when located within a predetermined range therefrom, each terminal unit being normally associated with and in communication with a single one of such access points. Based on the overall spatial layout, response time, and loading requirements of the network, different networking schemes and communication protocols have been designed so as to most efficiently regulate the association of the mobile unit with specific access points, and the availability of the communication channel to individual mobile units for broadcasting.
One such protocol is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,183; 5,142,550; 5,280,498; and 5,668,803 each assigned to Symbol Technologies, Inc. and incorporated herein by reference.
Another such protocol is described in U.S. Pat. 5,673,031. Still another protocol is set forth in the IEEE Standard 802.11 entitled xe2x80x9cWireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specificationsxe2x80x9d available from the IEEE Standards Department, Piscataway, N.J. (hereinafter the xe2x80x9cIEEE 802.11 Standardxe2x80x9d).
The IEEE 802.11 standard permits either infrared or RF communications, at 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps data rates, a medium access technique similar to carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), a power-save mode particularly important for battery-operated mobile units, seamless roaming in a full cellular network, high throughput operation, diverse antennae systems designed to eliminate xe2x80x9cdead spotsxe2x80x9d, and an easy interface to existing network infrastructures.
In Europe, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has been working in parallel on a protocol standard entitled HIPERLAN (European High Performance LAN), for high data wireless network systems. The frequency spectrum for HIPERLAN in the 5 GHz and 17 GHz bands has been allocated by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), with a proposed data rate of over 20 Mbit/sec. The IEEE 802.11 Committee is also currently considering extensions to the IEEE 802.11 Standard providing for optional higher data rates as well.
The IEEE 802,11 Standard provides for these types of MAC frames-control, data, and management. All control frames are transmitted at one of the PHY mandatory rates, typically 1 Mbps, so that they will be understood by all stations. The other frames are transmitted at one of the rates in the basic rate set under the standard. The algorithm for performing rate switching is beyond the scope of the standard.
The term xe2x80x9croamingxe2x80x9d relates to mobile units associating with different access points. Each mobile unit analyzes received signals from access points to identify and associate with an eligible access point. Analogous to cells in a cellular telephone network, the region around a given access point may also be referred to as a xe2x80x9ccellxe2x80x9d. Roaming between cells provides great flexibility and is particularly advantageous in locations that are difficult to wire, for simple relocation of work stations, and for portable work stations.
Although the IEEE 802,11 Standard provides the basic packet types which enable roaming, it does not actually set the roaming algorithm. According to the standard, the mobile unit determines the access point with which it will associate and the access point must accept the mobile unit unless the access point is defective or certain alarm conditions exist, such as memory full. There is, however, no suggestion of how, or by what criteria, other than those mentioned above, the mobile unit might select an appropriate access point, or an optimum access point.
1. Objects of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to implement a wireless local area network with multiple data transmission rates.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an algorithm allowing selection by a mobile unit of an access point for association maximizing the data throughput.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication system allowing roaming by a mobile unit over access points having different data rate characteristics.
2. Features of the Invention
According to the present invention, there is provided a method in a data communications network including a plurality of stationary access points and a plurality of mobile units, a mobile unit being capable of transmitting at least two data rates and capable of communicating with at least two access points in a predetermined range therefrom, including the steps of evaluating the mobile unit performance; and if the mobile unit performance is below a threshold, scanning for the most eligible access point at predetermined intervals; and associating with the most eligible access point at the highest data rate.
If the mobile unit performance is below a threshold and after, scanning for the most eligible access point at predetermined intervals; and if the mobile unit is unable to associate with another access point at a higher data rate, reduce to data rate to the next lower data rate.
If the mobile unit performance is above a threshold, increasing the data rate of the mobile unit to the next highest data rate.
As a variant of such algorithm, there is provided a method in data communications network including a plurality of stationary access points and a plurality of mobile units, a mobile unit being capable of transmitting at least two data rates, and capable of communicating with at least two access points in a predetermined range therefrom, including the steps to scanning for the most eligible access point at the highest available data rate; evaluating the received access point signal quality and performance at the highest data rate; associating with the most eligible access point at the highest data rate if one is available; scanning for the most eligible access point at a second lower data rate if no association has been made; evaluating the received access point signal quality at the second data rate; and associating with the most eligible access point at the second data rate.
The present invention also provides a data communications network including a plurality of stationary access points and a plurality of mobile units, a mobile unit being capable of transmitting at least two data rates and capable of communicating with at least two access points in a predetermined range therefrom, including means in the mobile unit to scan for the most eligible access point at predetermined intervals means in the mobile unit for evaluating the performance statistics at the current data rate; and means for associating with the most eligible access point at the highest data rate.